First round was against The Sloane Gang, starting Mario Crane (Exp.1). Early pressure from Soul Blast and Blood Curse made my opponent play very conservatively, but he still managed to make a few points in town square. The pivotal moment was running him out of money, then using California Tax Office on Mario. After that he didn't have enough influence to keep up with my expanding street, securing me the win.

Second round was also against The Sloane Gang, specifically Patrick's Choke list. I didn't see a spell on turn one, making it difficult to get the card and economy engine going. We danced around each other for a few turns, until I was forced into aggressively going after his board position to prevent a loss. I lost a couple of shootouts and just didn't have any way to bounce back, making this game a loss.

Third round was against The Sanatorium, an interesting Clown Carriage build with lots of fun tech. Early Soul Blast and Shadow Walk let me keep up board pressure against my opponent's low grit starting posse, and Agent Provocateur prevented my opponent from using Christine Perfect to hunt down the people I was using to Shadow Walk around and contest his deeds (the Agent is higher grit than anyone else in my starting posse). Eventually I set up a commanding board position and just had to wait it out, buying more dudes and deeds each turn. My opponent got me into a shootout for the win, and we went to time. We finished the shootout, with me either sending home or killing most of his posse. That clinched the win, and second place for the deck.

I like the draw structure, focusing on two values and splashing in other cards lets you include a broader range of strong cards (my old friend Soul Blast!) and gives a high value spell deck a better chance of winning lowball. :)

@Harlath, thanks for the feedback. The structure did let me win quite a bit of lowball, especially with the Heretic Jokers in the mix.

I feel that Agent Provocateur is very similar to Jake Smiley, with a slightly different bent. Jake is better in aggressive builds that just need some influence to not lose, while the Agent really shines in defensive builds that are looking to have another stud to defend against removal jobs until they build up momentum. In decks like this one that want to sit at home with most of their dudes for most of the game, there is very little reason not to play both. The high value and low cost are definitely factors in her playability, but the deck would have worked just fine starting Black Owl, Theo Whateley-Boyer, or Clementine Lepp instead. I never used the Agent's Sundown ability, and the rest of her text never mattered.

@Harlath, thanks for the feedback. The structure did let me win quite a bit of lowball, especially with the Heretic Jokers in the mix.

I feel that Agent Provocateur is very similar to Jake Smiley, with a slightly different bent. Jake is better in aggressive builds that just need some influence to not lose, while the Agent really shines in defensive builds that are looking to have another stud to defend against removal jobs until they build up momentum. In decks like this one that want to sit at home with most of their dudes for most of the game, there is very little reason not to play both. The high value and low cost are definitely factors in her playability, but the deck would have worked just fine starting Black Owl, Theo Whateley-Boyer, or Clementine Lepp instead. I never used the Agent's Sundown ability, and the rest of her text never mattered.